Add Meshes like in 3ds Max
You cannot.
Blender is different software, it does not work identically to other 3d packages. It might not be very reasonable to expect it to.
What you could do is set the pivot point to cursor and use the scale cage tool:

Or you could set the transform pivot to 3d cursor and scale after setting the cursor to cube's sides with s operator that might be more convenient for using numeric keyboard input in operation because you don't need to hold the mouse down: